Ryan has never beaten the Vikings during the Zimmer era
Mike Zimmer took over as the Vikings head coach in 2014 and since then, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has encountered a mobile house of horrors when facing Minnesota.
Ryan has squared off against Zimmer’s Vikings four times and four times he’s left as the loser. Two of these contests took place in Minneapolis while the other two occurred in Atlanta.
In these four matchups, Ryan is the owner of an 81.6 passer rating. Against all other opponents in his career, Ryan is a 94.5 passer-rating guy. That’s nearly a 15 percent drop-off in games against Minnesota.
It wasn’t long ago that Ryan was the NFL’s best quarterback as he won the MVP award in 2016 right before an ill-fated Super Bowl trip. You know the one, there are several memes about the matter.
Week 6 versus the Vikings will be the dawn of a new era for Ryan and his Falcons. Dan Quinn is no longer in charge and Ryan may be starting an unofficial end to his tenure with the only franchise he’s called home.
Atlanta’s performance and that of Ryan individually will help shape the direction of his team’s momentous 2021 offseason.